North Korea fired three ballistic missiles early Wednesday, May 25, 2022, morning, South Korea’s military has announced.

Authorities in Seoul (South Korea’s capital) said the missiles were fired in the space of less than an hour from the Sunan area in Pyongyang (Noth Korea’s capital). The new development came just a day after US President, Joe Biden, left the region, following a trip that saw him vowing to bolster measures to deter North Korea.

North Korea started its test-firing of ballistic missiles at the beginning of this year (2022). Japan, a border nation to North Korea confirmed that at least, two launches happened on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, but acknowledged there may have been more.

Japan’s Defence Minister, Nobuo Kishi, intimated that the first missile flew about 300km (186 miles) with a maximum altitude of around 550 km, while the second, which reached as high as 50 km, travelled around 750 km. Mr. Kishi criticised the launches, saying they are “not acceptable”. He also added that it would “threaten the peace, stability and safety of Japan and the international community”.

In a meeting convened after the missile launch, South Korea’s National Security Council called the test a “grave provocation”, the country’s Presidential office noted.

Strategic Plans by US and South Korea

The launches came hours after US President Joe Biden departed for the US on Tuesday (May 24, 2022) evening, after a five-day trip that saw him visiting South Korea and Japan.

U.S. and South Korean Officials earlier warned that North Korea appeared ready for another weapons test, possibly during Biden’s visit. During the visit to Seoul over the weekend, Mr. Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, agreed to hold bigger military drills and deploy more US strategic assets if necessary to deter North Korea’s intensifying weapons tests. In Mr. Biden’s speech, he said the United States is “prepared for anything North Korea does”.

Missiles Amidst Covid Emergency

The latest launches by North Korea came at a time when North Korea continued its struggles to contain a suspected outbreak of COVID-19 amongst its over 25 million unvaccinated population.

More than a million people have now been sickened by what Pyongyang is calling a “fever”, and more than 68 people have died since it was formally announced. On May 12, 2022, North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles the same day Mr. Kim declared an “emergency” over the Coronavirus outbreak in the country. Since the virus outbreak globally, North Korea turned down three million Chinese-made vaccine doses, last year (2021), and reportedly rejected other offers, from Covax, the global vaccine-sharing scheme.

South Korea, which borders North Korea, has offered to send unlimited aid to the North if requested, including vaccine doses, health personnel, and medical equipment, but is yet to receive a response. But an earlier report revealed that North Korea has sent three planes to collect medical supplies from Shenyang (a city in China). China’s Foreign Ministry intimated that these supplies do not include “anti-pandemic supplies”, but added that the Ministry is “ready to work with North Korea… in the fight against the coronavirus”.